The Homeworld
by Kendoka Girl
Summary: One shot multiplayer inspired ficlet of the quarian fleet's initial attempt to retake Rannoch. Much violence. No hurt/comfort, well maybe some.


**W/N - **This one is for Hoplite. The quarians launch their attack on the geth near Rannoch, hoping to take back the Homeworld. I love playing the engineers in multiplayer.

**Homeworld**

The Homeworld. The mere word held such deep meaning for the quarian people. Nothing could have prepared them though for the magnificent beauty of actually seeing Rannoch with their own eyes. The blue orb that had been lost to them for centuries filled the entire viewing port for a moment before a missile slammed into the bridge of the quarian corvette _Torus_.

Myla vas Torus froze for a moment as the windows on the bridge shattered in slow motion and the metal framing dissolved in the blast. An orange glow grew bigger, spreading out across the room, engulfing her friends and family who sat at their stations. Myla dove under her console just before the flames roiled over her. She could feel the intense heat just outside of her suit and she curled into a ball, knowing what would come next.

A grinding noise nearly blew her eardrums out as the shockwave tore through the bridge, throwing bodies and consoles around like toys. Shota vas Torus flew by her, his mask shattered and his face scorched nearly beyond recognition. She knew it was him by what was left of his intricate suit scarf that was burning to a crisp.

And still, the nightmare was not over. Myla grabbed the post of her seat and hung on for dear life as the shockwave abated. She could feel the pressure change around her and, in another moment, anything that wasn't nailed down was sucked out into the vacuum of space.

"Keelah!" she screamed as the maelstrom of bodies and chairs whirled around her and out through the gaping hole in the bridge. Her arms strained, joints nearly ripping from sockets as she held on, parts of her suit tearing from stretching. In spite of her fear, she let go with one hand. She had to do something or she would join the ancestors in another moment. She reached out her hand, trying to touch the haptic display for her station, hoping that it was still functional. Her fingers began to slip from the post.

"No! Keelah, no!"

There was no more that she could do. The ancestors would embrace her for her bravery. But, she was so close to the Homeworld, so close.

Then, a hand came up from the other side of the display and hit the barrier controls, sealing off the breach. The hurricane around Myla went still in less than a moment and she fell hard on the deck. She lay there in pain for a minute, her arms aching. She could see a spider web crack on her face mask.

"Myla, thank the ancestors you are alive. Are you hurt?" a man asked.

She pushed up on one arm. "My suit…there's a slow leak. Let me seal it off." The man helped her up, his glowing eyes full of concern under his mask.

"Paulus…thank you. Is there anyone…anyone else alive on the bridge?"

"No."

Myla let her gut settle, digesting what had just happened. "The bridge is ruined. We have to contact engineering. They can steer the ship from there…get us back to the fleet."

Paulus tapped his omni-tool, but he received only static. "Nothing. The intercom must be down shipwide. We'll have to get there on foot."

Myla nodded. "Yes, okay, let's go." She moved quickly to the hatch and tapped her omni-tool, scanning just beyond the portal. "It's clear. I'm going to open it."

The hatch hissed open into a corridor that led down to the crew quarters. All was eerily dark except for flashing red lights on the ceiling. "Where is everyone?" Paulus asked, peering down the hall.

Myla heard stuttering beeps. "Oh Keelah, we've been boarded." She pulled a disk from her pouch and tossed it ahead of them. It bounced on the deck and then levitated a meter off of the ground.

From around a corner, a silver form leaned out and Myla could see a plume of flame and smoke. A rocket burst from a geth's launcher and streaked at them. "Down!" Paulus cried as the rocket slammed into the bulkhead in front of them. Bits of metal pelted their suits and wiring fell from the ceiling, sparking and smoking. In a moment, Myla's disk came to life as a sentry turret and opened up on the rocket trooper, spraying it with dozens of rounds that came out so fast it sounded like a buzz saw. Metal and glass tore apart and shattered on the geth's body, flinging parts down the hall, but more troopers poured in, unloading automatic weapons fire that _pinged_ on the deck and bulkheads around the quarians. Paulus placed his rifle around the corner and fired blindly.

The turret continued to spray rounds and a torrent of flame shot from a spout onto the troopers. Several of them jiggled as bullets tore through their metal bodies and one even melted under the heat of the flamethrower. Paulus leaned out around cover and took careful aim. There was a crack and the muzzle flipped up as another rocket trooper's head came apart.

"Go!" Myla shouted. This was there best chance. "The geth are wavering." Paulus moved into the hall, covering ahead and Myla took one last look back at the bridge. Rannoch was getting big. Way too big. "We're falling into the planet's gravity well! We have to hurry." This was not the way that she wanted to land on the homeworld.

They picked up the pace and scurried down the hall over shattered and melted metal corpses. Myla took a peek around the corner and then threw another disk ahead. As the disk levitated over the deck, she inched into the next corridor that would take them to engineering. They passed an open hatch and she saw movement in her peripheral vision.

She saw the golden geth soldier and the nozzle turning towards her. Orange flames burst from the weapon, engulfing her suit. Her shields overloaded with a snap, but it gave her the second that she needed and Paulus shoved her out of the way. Her skin felt like it was on fire, but she grit her teeth and pointed her finger at the pyro. An arc of energy shot from her hand into the geth and it seemed to seize up, shaking uncontrollably. Her turret pivoted and sprayed jellified petroleum all over the geth. A moment later a spark jumped from the turret, igniting the mixture, melting circuits and optics with the fury of the flames.

"You want to play with fire?" Myla screamed as Paulus dragged her away. "You want to play with fire, huh?" she added as the geth's metal body turned into molten sludge.

"Stay with me, Myla! I need you. I'm no engineer. You have to take control of the _Torus_."

Myla batted her smoldering suit with her hands. "Sorry…sorry. Engineering is right here." She tapped her omni-tool, opening the hatch. "Oh, Keelah. No."

Bodies of the quarian engineers lay mixed in with shattered geth. Vents of steam shot from broken pipes. Paulus scanned around, leading with his rifle. "Okay, it's clear," he said and advanced into the room. "Can you fix it? Can you get us back to the fleet?"

In spite of the carnage, Myla smiled under her mask, her teeth just showing through. "As Admiral Tali Zorah might say, 'give me a circuit board, gum and a fist full of eezo and I'll have it doing precision jumps'."

Paulus chuckled. "You always were a funny one, Myla vas Torus. Hurry up though, we can't have much time left. I'm not fond of the idea of finally meeting the Homeworld at terminal velocity."

Myla leapt over to one of the haptic interfaces and her hands flew over the display. The vents of steam went quiet and green lights began to flash over the console. "I think I have it. All systems are back up. I'm turning the _Torus_ from Rannoch!"

She looked back to see a smile spreading over Paulus' lips and his glowing eyes beaming. They just might make it. Myla let out a long breath, but then she saw something shimmer just behind Paulus. There was a shotgun blast.

"No!" she yelled as a storm of pellets tore away Paulus' mask, taking half of his head with them. Blood spattered onto the interface, some of it coating Myla's suit. A geth hunter materialized in front of her and swung the muzzle of its shotgun her way. In heedless fury, Myla cocked her hand back and her omni-tool took form, creating a long blade that uncoiled from her arm. She sent the blade right into the hunter's face and twisted her hand, letting the edge rip and shred circuits. The shotgun muzzle yanked up high, sending a cone of pellets into the ceiling. "No!" she yelled again as she channeled thousands of volts of electricity into its head, searing wires and melting glass. The geth screamed a stuttering steam of grunts and then arched back and crashed to the ground. By Keelah, she hoped that it felt pain.

Then, Myla fell to her knees and cradled what was left of Paulus head. Blood leaked through her fingers and she tried to stuff his brains back in his skull. "Paulus, no. Come on. We're almost there." She looked around for his jaw.

The comm system crackled at one of the other panels. "_Torus_, this is the _Idenna_. _Torus_, come in. We have you in sight. You look pretty beat up, but we have you safe now. Keelah Se'lai."

Myla buried her head onto Paulus' bloodsoaked chest and rocked back and forth, letting out a cry from deep in her gut that echoed down the empty halls of the _Torus_.


End file.
